Alone Together
by dilly2
Summary: After a bad day at work, Elena needs to relax, but she never expected to find comfort where she does. Elena x Scarlet. Please R&R.


There isn't nearly enough femslash in the world of Final Fantasy. So. My contribution. I'm definitely writing more about this couple.  
  
  
**Alone Together**  
_by dilly_  
  
Elena grunted with effort.

"Seventeen... eighteen... nineteen..."

Her arms shook, then weakened. The weights clacked loudly against each other. She, lay panting heavily, her hair stuck to her skin with sweat.

She sat up and sighed. "Dammit! I can't do _anything_ right." She stomped over to the vending machine, jammed the gil in the slot, and punched in the letter and number. The diet bar fell into the bin below. She gnawed at the plastic wrapper as she left the gym tantivy.

"First, I say the wrong thing on a mission and everybody's mad at me. Then, I can't even do twenty reps. On any other day I could do _forty_," she said to no one in particular as she stormed along. The other Shinra employees scattered sparsely in the hallway gave her strange looks as she passed. "Well, maybe not forty, but thirty... or twenty-five."

The smell of sweat, old clothing and air freshener rolled out of the locker room door when she opened it. She crinkled her nose and walked in. The room was empty. No one else was doing exercise at ten o'clock in the evening.

"Other people are on dates," she said irritably. "Or on the graveyard shift. At least I'm not doing that. But if it would mean I could get the other Turks to stop being mad at me, I think it'd be worth it." She sighed and stepped into the adjoining shower room. No one there either. She stripped off her gym cloths and threw them into a heap on one of the benches and stepped into a shower stall. The hot water and steam relaxed her. She washed her hair first, then her body, then her hair again. The least she could do was look nice. Maybe one of the Turks would notice her. If she was sleeping with one of them, maybe they'd be mad at her less. She pushed the thought out of her head.

"That's immoral, and you know it."

"That's half the fun."

She swung around, nearly slipping on the wet floor. An hourglass figure in red shadowed the shower curtain. Elena peeked her head out from behind the curtain, careful to keep herself covered.

"Scarlet? What are you doing here?"

Scarlet smile was bright vermilion and lace. "I was going to ask you the same question. I thought I was the only one that used the facilities here at this time of night." She handed Elena a towel. She covered up and stepped out.

"You do this often? I was... upset after today's mission."

"Yes, I heard."

Elena blushed and turned away. "Tseng told you. Of course."

She nodded, still smiling. "You know, one Reno is enough. I know you're trying to get them to like you, but really. I'm sure you're not so bad."

"I don't know what you mean," Elena said nervously.

Scarlet laughed. "It's pretty corny, but I'm trying to say you should be yourself. They'll like you more."

The young Turk bit her lip and sat slowly on the bench next to her gym clothes. "So, why do you come here at night. I would think you'd have better things to do. No! I mean. Not like that, but-- You know like..."

"Like screwing some high ranking guy to improve my position here?"

"N-no. I didn't--"

"That's okay," Scarlet said with a snicker, "That's a pretty good description of most of my nights. But a girl's got to take a break sometimes." She pushed Elena's clothes out of the way and sat next to her. "You're, what, twenty-three?"

"Twenty-four last month."

"Oh, happy birthday. Did I send you a card?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Have you slept with any of the other Turks?"

Elena shifted uncomfortably, "No. I'm a... well..."

"Virgin? How rare!" Scarlet threw her head back and laughed. "Really? Is that true? At twenty-four? Why? You're a pretty enough girl."

She pushed her short hair behind her ear. "I don't know. I just haven't."

Scarlet crossed her legs and moved ever so slightly closer to Elena. "There's more to it than that."

"Why do you think so?"

"I _don't_ think so. I know so. Tell me."

"I'm just..." Elena sighed and began to fidget with the edge of her towel. "I guess I'm scared. Men kind of, I don't know, frighten me sometimes. Or if they don't frighten me, they just disgust me."

"I know how you feel."

Elena turned to Scarlet, her large eyes full of hope. She had felt so alone since she had joined the Turks. Maybe a friend was what she needed. "Do you? Really?"

"I think so." She smiled a little smile that Elena couldn't quite read. "You feel like men want you to be someone you're not. They want you weak, but they want you strong too. They expect you to give them all of the sexual gratification they want, but don't expect you to want any in return. You feel that a man couldn't really understand you. And even if he could, he wouldn't make the effort."

Elena felt like there was a vise around her heart. The things that were inside her head. The things she thought were wrong to think. Scarlet had just said them, as if they were run-of-the-mill feelings. She couldn't say anything. Scarlet let the silence linger for a few moments before speaking again.

"I don't do it because I like it, you know," she said slowly, "The sleeping around. I do it because that's what they expect from me. I don't feel anything when I'm with a man anymore. It's just this empty action."

"I don't know what to say," said Elena, quite truthfully.

"You know, sometimes, I like to treat myself to really good sex. And finding the right partner is so easy, you almost don't even consider it."

"W-what do you mean?"

Scarlet turned to Elena suddenly and took her hand. "You said you're afraid of men. Are you afraid of women?"

Elena blinked, "Well, no. But..."

"But?"

"But, women are women."

Scarlet laughed, "Yes, that's true."

"So, you don't have to try to be all sexy with them like you do with men. 'Cause it's not the same kinda game with them."

"You know," Scarlet said with a wry smile, "You're pretty dense."

Blink. "What?"

She put her hand under Elena's chin and began to lean forward. By the time Elena knew what she was doing, Scarlet's red lips were already over her mouth. Elena jerked back on reflex. Scarlet backed away, visibly disappointed.

"I'm sorry," Scarlet said. Her voice was quiet, raspy. Far different from her usual seductive tone. "I thought... well, from what you were saying, I thought you were."

Tears? "Scarlet." Elena put a nervous hand on the woman's shoulder. She couldn't think of anything to say. She didn't even know what she was feeling. Maybe Scarlet was right about her.

"You must think pretty badly of me right now."

"No," said Elena, "I just don't know _what_ to think."

_::No one's ever liked me like this before,::_ she thought _::And she's pretty. She could have anyone she wanted.::_ She was shaking inside and out, but she tried to ignore it. The kiss had felt good. More than she would have liked to admit. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against Scarlet's.

She was surprised by the hunger in her own kiss. She felt warm all over, partially from nervousness, and partially from something else. Something that had always been there. Scarlet slipped an hand around to the back of Elena's neck. Elena scooted closer to her and put her arms around her waist. The kiss intensified. Scarlet pushed her tongue between Elena's lips and Elena allowed her entrance. They explored each other's mouths passionately.

After a lifetime rolled into a few minutes, Scarlet pulled back slowly from the kiss, leaving with a flurry of smaller kisses. Elena found that she had stopped breathing and gasped for air. The lady in red chuckled cautiously, trying to read Elena's face.

"That was... good," Elena said, still panting for air.

Scarlet looked down, then back to Elena's face, then back down. Elena realized with a blush that her towel had fallen into her lap. She scrambled to pull it back up, but Scarlet put stopped her with a touch on the young Turk's hands.

"Do you think, maybe, we could go to dinner tomorrow night?" Scarlet looked around, smiling. "It beats hanging out alone on the 64th floor."

"Do you promise another kiss like that one?"

"Certainly."

Elena smiled warmly, "It's a date." 


End file.
